girls that burn and girls that drown
by rainyrhapsody
Summary: Kunoichi are all liars, and Ino is just one of them. (And they're all broken inside.) Ino-introspective drabble. Ino. Sakura. Mentions of Tsunade. Basically it.


 _by_ : rainy rhapsody

 _summary:_ Kunoichi are all liars, and Ino is just one of them. (And they're all broken inside.) ino-introspective drabble. ino. sakura. basically it.

 _genre_ _:_ drama/friendship

 _characters/pairings:_ Ino. Sakura

 _note:_ i never have any idea what i am doing. but i like ino so:

* * *

Perhaps, Ino thinks sometimes, it would've been better to be born a boy. Shinobi can be heroes, sometimes. They are strength in flesh and bone and chakra, how fast they can run, how hard they can hit, how well they can create fire or water or wind out of close to nothing. They are why little boys dream of learning how to throw a kunai or run over water. They rescue princesses and fight for justice and forget that they are shinobi and not samurai.

Kunoichi do not have that kind of luxury. There is a reason shinobi outnumber them 2:1 in the academy, why once they rise in ranks that statistic changes to 4:1. The shinobi world is no place for a woman. They cannot run as fast or hit as hard or even create out of nothing as well. It is not discrimination, it is just a fact. Kunoichi are born more fragile, more delicate. Their chakra reserves tend to be smaller. They suffer from the repercussions of childbirth while the fathers often go free. Their worth is judged by the thinness of their waists and the smoothness of their skin and the brightness of their eyes.

So Kunoichi learn to lie. They learn to deceive. They learn to hide poison in champagne without getting caught, weave genjutsu that hide the kunai beneath their sleeves, the senbon threaded through their hair. They master the arts of deception and trickery while shinobi hone their bodies and ninjutsu. Kunoichi have no place for that. Their deeds will never be praised, or written about in golden glory. They are the hands beneath the turn of tides, the victory of wars. It is easy to forget about them, when their deeds are ones of shadow.

Kunoichi have no place for honour or pride. It is not in their nature to be so, for it will only lead to their downfall.

But then Tsunade Senju comes, hands blazing green chakra that multiplies her strength until even the strongest of shinobi is no match for her. But as much as she destroys, she can create as well, stitch together broken flesh and set fractured bones. It is not secret that she is what all Kunoichi should be, tall and proud and beautiful, with the strength of a hundred shining in chakra bright eyes. But Kunoichi are not all that, and if they were, it would be a disaster.

Sakura is lucky, but it's better this way. Sakura can't bear the weight of hands on her skin, a stranger's life taken as the morning just begins to shine through closed curtains, honey sweet words on her tongue that lure flies into her spider's web. But Ino can. Ino will bear it for her instead, will wear clothes that slide off her shoulders and brush her thighs, and make her lies seem almost like truths, while Sakura heals and fights and blazes like a hundred warriors in one. And Sakura is still a little girl, on the inside. She may be able to break bones with her pinky finger, but she is still whisper thin, fragile as the most delicate of porcelain and just as transparent, cracks like lace upon white silk. She'll break if she doesn't learn to be strong, break if she doesn't have the light to shine through her. She'll break if her dreams don't come true, and she's forced to fall instead.

And Ino dreams too. Ino dreams of smiles that aren't riddled with falseness, true love and white gowns. She dreams of someone who will sweep her off her feet and carry her away from everything else. And maybe she breaks a little too, and the cracks are only widening.

"Are you okay, Ino?" asks Sakura. There's no real worry in her voice, but Ino doesn't blame her. Ino's gotten too good at pretending to be something she's not, at hiding the cracks she's got inside.

"Yeah," answers Ino. She thinks about the things she'll do in T&I later on today, the minds she'll break, the people she'll watch scream. Some of them laugh when she walks in - the prisoners, that is. But they don't know. They don't know the scars that lie beneath purple cloth and long blonde hair. Don't know the scars that go much deeper. And they never laugh when she leaves. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Alright," says Sakura. "If you're sure."

"I am," says Ino. She smiles at her, and when Sakura laughs, she joins in, pretends that she isn't trying too hard.

She dreams of a boy with black eyes that bled into red, but smiles and laughs anyways.

* * *

 _note:_ at least it was only 800ish words so you didnt waste too much of your time. if you see any glaringly obvious mistakes kindly point them out (amongst this un-edited mess of mistakes) (runs away and hides) (this is so horrible)

i will now post this before i regret it

-rain


End file.
